Not Your Ordinary Fairytale
by njbrc
Summary: Nate/Serena- future fic. There aren't too many fics of them out there. Basically, they meet at a bar many years later with flashbacks of their relationship. Bad summary.
1. Chapter 1

**A couple things:**

**-I'm sure I have a million grammatical errors, sorry about that. I'm not much of an editor.  
**

**-It's my first fic that I've actually ever completed, so be kind please!**

**-I'm not much of a writer.**

**-Comments/feedback makes me happy and are greatly appreciated. **

**-Could turn out M16. Not too sure yet.  
**

Nate took another swig at his scotch, feeling that familiar burning sensation in his throat. He licked his lips reliving the taste. He'd been sitting at Dylan Murphy's bar for countless hours, just staring into space and wallowing in self pity. Just three short months ago, he had lost the love of his life. He treated his divorce as if it was a death, because as far as he was concerned, Rachel was dead to him and he wanted nothing else to do with her lying, cheating face. He laughed bitterly at the thought that karma may just have gotten him back for falling in love and sleeping with Serena van der Woodsen behind Blair Waldorf's back in the ninth grade. Or maybe when he was banging her when she was Dan Humphrey's, many years ago. Him and Serena could _never_ get it right. Nate sighed, clenching his jaw and played around with the ice in his empty glass. Last thing he had heard from Serena van der Woodsen was she was off in Italy, probably screwing the entire population of a small Italian village. Guess her divorce with Dan Humphrey really did go through.

"_Serena," he breathed in her ear. "Please, don't leave me." Nate thought for the tiniest of seconds he saw a single tear roll down her angelic face. _

"_Nate, I, I-"_

"_Can't." He finished the sentence for her whilst getting off the bed, standing up straight. "Ok, I get it." Nate stood up and put his clothes back on calmly. He brushed the tear of her soft cheek, and gave her forehead a kiss. His heart ached and longed for her as he tried to fight the lump that was forming in his throat. This wasn't the first time Serena had walked out of his life, but the first time he'd have to say bye. He couldn't look at her anymore as he picked up his jacket and walked out the door. He never attended the Humphrey-van der Woodsen wedding a month later and it was an unspoken rule between him and Chuck to never talk about it. _

Nate and Chuck were still tight, still staying true to their eternal bromance. He wondered if Blair knew about Serena and him. If Serena hadn't told Blair, Chuck, the epitome of a doting husband probably would've. Blair Waldorf had such control over Chuck that Nate couldn't comprehend, that man was whipped, even after 13 years together. "Another scotch." He called out to the waiter, making it probably his sixth glass of the night. It was no surprise he was only slightly tipsy, ever since him and Rachel got a divorce, he had drank more in a short period of three months then he was sure he'd drank his whole life.

Nate looked over to four people sitting at a table, he was pretty sure they were on a double date. He missed the days where him, Chuck, Blair and Rachel would just lounge around for hours on his penthouse rooftop and discuss everything under the stars. Occasionally, Blair would bring up Serena and Nate would automatically stir uncomfortably in his seat, which would always spark Rachel's curiosity. Though she knew about Nate and Serena's infamous bar romp many years ago, she had no idea of how their story went way past that night. It was like a fairytale, a prince and princess who wanted to be together, who were also the two most beautiful people in all the land. Not to mention, the prince cheated on another princess who he was promised to be married to and the princess he cheated on her with ran away to a far away kingdom, only to return to be in love with a pauper. The prince and princess then, once again, find themselves entangled with each other only whilst the princess was going to marry the pauper. Classic fairytale.

"Nate?" a familiar, angelic voice sang out behind him. Nate turned around on his bar stool, scotch glass still in hand to see _her_.

**To be continued...**


	2. Awkward Exes

_**Author's note: **_

_**So wow, this took me forever to update – to be honest I've had it for a while but I just didn't feel too confident about it, but I'll post it anyways and see what you guys think about it. **_

_**I felt the need to have flashbacks to sort of justify Nate and Serena's actions, because I do realize that a lot of people can be put off to a pairing and I wanted to give some depth to their relationship so that their hook up wasn't just a lusty thing between the two. **_

_**Oh and this is dedicated to Albert (weird inside joke, lol). **_

Serena van der Woodsen. There were no words Nate could bring to his mind when he saw her standing right in front of him, looking so gorgeous it made his heart ache. "Uhm, hi to you, too." She said awkwardly. She pushed her hair back and started fiddling with her fingers, something he would always noticed she did when she was nervous. The silence continued. Nate decided to act mature, and gave her a half-ass smile.

"Uhm, hi." He replied awkwardly. "Do," he cleared his throat, "Do you want to have a- a seat?" She gave him a small, sad smile and sat down right next to him. No wedding ring.

"So, how are you and your wi-"

"Divorced." Nate said calmly, surprising himself.

"Oh. I'm sorry I didn't know." Serena awkwardly shifted around in her seat. They sat in silence for a couple moments, Nate started drumming his fingers against the table as Serena continued to play with her fingers and occasionally fiddle with her skirt. "Fuck," she cursed under her breath, she should've walked away when she saw Nate sitting alone at the bar, but he looked so... innocent. So lost, so Nate-like, that she just didn't even think about what she was doing before saying hi. "So anyways!" She tried to cover up the extreme awkwardness she had gotten herself into, flailing her arms up and accidently knocking Nate's scotch all over his... crotch.

"What the f-" Nate cut himself off when he saw her eyes wide with shock.

"Crap, listen I am so sorry! I can't even begin telling you. I'm so sorry your pants must have cost a lot I'll buy you newer, better ones." She rambled on nervously biting her lip, before she even could think about it she was taking out tissues on her handbag and was about to start cleaning up the mess she made on his pants.

"Uhm!" Nate jumped up. "It's okay, I can take it from here." He quickly took the tissues away from her and started cleaning himself up, still with a shocked expression on his face. He noticed a little tear threatening to spill out of her navy blue eyes and saw her lips quivering. His face softened. He knew that face. He missed that face. Before he knew it, he softly brushed her tear that formed down the side of her eye away.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

_**9**__**th**__** Grade- 3 months before the Shepard Wedding.**_

"_Lily, again?" Nate asked her as she quietly sat on her bed. Wordless, she nodded. "Hey, it'll be okay." _

"_And how do you know that? You remember exactly how this was back when we were younger."_

"_Serena," He sat next to her on the bed and squeezed her hand, "I- Blair and I will always be there for you."_

"_Where's Blair?"_

"_Shouldn't I be asking you that?" He laughed his Nate laugh, running his fingers down his hair. Serena watched as the golden streaks in his wavy hair shined against the light. She wanted so bad to run her hair down her fingers and kiss his soft, delicate, way-to-pretty-to-be-a-boy's lips. _

"_Well, she _is_ your girlfriend."_

"_Well she _is_ your best friend."_

"_Well we're both at fault, then." She punched his arm lightly and smiled. Even the slightest touch of his skin made her shiver. She bit her lip, looking away trying not think about Nate that way. As much as she tried, his face, his laugh, his hair, the smallest comments and remarks he made, were always floating around in her mind. She couldn't help it. She couldn't help thinking about how he was always there to rescue her. How he always made her feel better than any of those guys she had ever been with could. But, he was Blair's. A lump in her throat formed. Nate noticed something was off and slowly and tentatively squeezed her shoulder. As much as she knew she shouldn't have prolonged any form of physical contact, she found herself resting her head against his shoulder. _

"_I know you're upset about Lily but," Nate started. Serena looked up at him. Sure, she was upset that her mother dearest ran off with YET another guy, but her heart was aching uncontrollably because the thing she wanted most in the world but could never have belonged to her best friend. "But you know what?" He continued, scrunching up his face with the most adorable expression. "Screw Lily. Screw her. Well, not in that way," Nate looked down and fidgeted, obviously embarrassed, "But you should really stop caring. Sure, she's your mom but there's only so many times that a person can let you down Serena, and you deserve so much more." Their eyes caught each other and locked. Who knew how long they just stared at each other's eyes, both thinking the exact same thing. Serena was the first to look away, trying to fight the urge to kiss Nate. _

_Nate, looked down and nervously rand his fingers through his hair again. His heart was in his throat and he wasn't sure if he could breathe properly, but he tried to remain calm and not look like a complete dweeb in front of Serena. Once upon a time, back in the beginning of the year, he thought him and Serena had a moment where they almost kissed. Almost. But Nate shook that thought off, because he knew how many guys Serena had been with, and there was no way Nate stood a chance against any of them. There was, Brett, (Or was it Brad?) the lacrosse captain of another private school; tall, buff, and one of those guys that Nate wanted to be like but ended up dumping Serena for some tattooed chick who worked at 711, James, a complete asshole who broke her heart in to pieces after had had used her to get back at his ex girlfriend, and multiple other guys that completely screwed around with her. He would hate seeing her with her eyes all puffy and watching re-runs of Laguna's Creek or whatever. He remembered after the whole James fiasco, he had bought her his favourite sandwich down from his favourite Deli, he came up to her room to give it to her and she was a complete mess. It was obvious she hadn't seen or talked to anyone the whole weekend and her mascara was an absolute mess. She looked like the most gorgeous thing alive. _

"_You know what, Nate, you are SO right, for once." She teased._

_Nate held his chest, pretending to have just been stabbed. "You really underestimate me, you know that?"_

"_Now why would you say that?" She teased again. "It's not like you're that weird guy Dave guy who has no life and sits in dark corners of the hallway writing dark poetry, or anything."_

"_Well, you're right. I'm just another guy." _

"_That's not true. Maybe sometimes you underestimate yourself."_

_Nate grinned his Archibald grin, making Serena's stomach do flips and her heart beat faster than it should. "You know, you're so easy to talk to. It's so effortless. I mean, I love Blair, she's my girlfriend and everything it's just that sometimes..." He wanted to say that sometimes, no, all the time he had the strongest urge to kiss her. Whenever he saw her cry, he wanted to wrap his arms around her and hold her, which he couldn't now because he knew he couldn't let those feelings for her take over. It was too risky – and he was pretty sure Blair would totally nuder him. "Sometimes, you're more... chill." He continued lamely. What the fuck was he suppose to say to her without sounding like a love sick puppy? "I can actually talk to you, without worrying you'll throw a pair of shoes at me, or talk about the future and I can actually have fun." Her eyes beamed back at him, and she gave him this look. His head spun, he wasn't feeling to stable. His palms were getting sweaty._

"_Thanks." Serena looked down shyly on the floor and started playing with her fingers. Was she being... shy? "I uhm," Serena got up, this was getting too much to bare. There was no way she could resist Nate any longer being in a room alone with him, with him looking like that and saying the sweetest things to her. "Have to go. Since Lily's gone Eric's probably all alone, and you know. Probably don't want to have him home alone." She looked on the ground and shifted from foot to foot. _

"_Oh, okay then. You need me to walk you home?" Nate answered, his eyes hopeful. Maybe he could spend just a few more minutes with her._

"_Oh, no, Nate. Really, I should probably get going now, and you know. Eric. Home, alone. Bad." Serena mumbled as she watched Nate's face slowly drop. She turned around to leave before-_

"_Wait, aren't you going to give me a hug?" Nate beamed. Why did he look like such an adorable puppy? As much as she was trying hard to restrain herself from Nate, there was no way she could say no to that. She wrapped her arms around his waist as he slowly slid his arms around the small of her back. Serena closed her eyes as she rest her head against his tight, muscular chest and could hear his heart beating rapidly. She bit her lip and a Serena van der Woodsen tear was threatening to spill out of the corner of her eye. _

"_Bye Nate."_

_--------------------------------------------------------------_

"So, you got any kids?"

Serena shook her head. "Nope, I never really found the time, I've been so busy." Serena knew Nate had two kids, he lived in his parent's old house, that he drove a Porsche, and that he had a dog named Howie, but she wasn't exactly about to tell him that. She hadn't spoken to Blair for six months, since her divorce, so she was guessing that Nate's divorce was still pretty new and that he was still hurting. She studied Nate's face as she talked to him about her job, as he listened quietly. She saw his eyes leave his newly filled scotch glass to an attractive woman on the other side of the bar. She winked at him and he gave her a small, shy smile which made the woman look like she was going to fall off her chair. His eyes went from the woman, back to her –giving Serena an anxious tug at her heart. She studied him for a moment, he was still the same man that had walked out her apartment so many years ago but there was something very different seeing him this time.

_**To be continued ...**_


	3. Cause I Know That You Feel Me Somehow

**Author's Note:** I know you can't miss something you've never had but I really, really miss NS. There's going to be some Chuck/Blair in this chapter along with an NB friendship and mentions of NB's relationship (don't worry though, lol). Chuck/Blair will have a more prominent storyline along the way, and I know this is an NS fic but I just flove writing Chuck/Blair, so sorry about that! Lol.

"Well, I guess she takes after you in that way." Serena laughed genuinely but nervously.

"Hah, I guess she does." Nate smiled. It was a weak smile, but it was a genuine one.

It was weird talking about _his_ kids with her, because for the longest time at the back of her mind she somehow always thought that her and Nate would've fought all the odds against them and found a way back to each other. How very wrong she had been.

"Isn't it funny how life turned out?" Serena didn't know why, but after she said that it felt as if a heavy weight was pressing on her chest.

"Yeah, it is." Nate smiled sadly.

They sat there in silence for a couple minutes. Serena couldn't look at Nate, she knew that she could've had a good life with him, but their timing was never right. It was always something of another that stopped them from truly getting the happiness that they could give each other. He was never hers; he had belonged to Blair, and when he didn't; she belonged to Dan. Yet, she had never felt more content than in those few stolen minutes and with those few forbidden kisses that they shared.

"I guess I have a chance to start over," Nate continued, "And maybe do the things that I never got to do." His eyes met hers, then his eyes carefully traced her face, lingering at her lips. He looked away quickly.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Serena swallowed. Hard.

Nate turned away from her. It was most likely all the alcohol he had but his ears were buzzing and the room was spinning slightly. _Fuck_, he muttered under his breath. Why did Serena have to look so sad? He should've been pissed as hell at her right now for walking away from what they had. What they had. What _did_ they have? The room was spinning uncontrollably. Nate furrowed his eyebrows. Their whole "relationship" had involved Nate chasing Serena, and never the other way around. She'd never even returned his affections. She ran away to fucking boarding school without a word, she looked him straight in the eye and told him she didn't come back for him, he told her him and _Blair_ were how it was suppose to be, and to top it off she went off to marry Dan – the "love" of her life. Fuck, Serena didn't even care about him. He felt sick. Maybe it was the alcohol, but maybe it was the realization that Serena had never proved once how much he meant to her, yet he had never stopped loving her and never doubted she returned those affections.

"Are you okay?" Serena asked, worried. "You look a little flustered. Here, maybe you can - "

"That's alright." He cut her off. "What do you care anyways?" He muttered.

"What do you mean?" Serena asked, alarmed. Sure, he was a bit drunk but why the sudden change of mood?

"I better be off now. Carlotta," he looked at the young waitress, "Is everything payed for?"

The waitress nodded. Nate grabbed his coat. "See you around, Serena."

Serena sat there, completely dumbfounded. She bit her quivering lip. What went wrong?

_**Ninth Grade – Sleepover – 2 months before the Shepard Wedding**_

"_Natie," Serena squealed, "Give it back!" _

"_Seriously, Serena, what's in here that you don't want me to see?" Nate laughed. _

_Serena attempted to reach for her handbag but Nate, who had just grown a whopping six inches in the past half a year, had arms that stretched out way too far for her to get her bag. _

"_Please," Chuck Bass rose from beneath the covers of the bed next to them, "_Some_ of us are trying to sleep, here." Clearly referring to him and Blair, who was buried in a bundle of pillows next to him. _

_Nate realized that he was suppose in "RED ALERT Boyfriend mode" at that moment, but Serena's breathy whispering in his ear distracted him. _

"_I'll give you _anything_ you want." Their cheeks brushed ever so softly. Nate realized that Serena meant this in a playful manner, but he felt dangerously close to pitching a tent in his boxers. _

"_Sure!" Nate squeaked, squirming out of Serena's grasp. _

"_Wow," Serena said, slightly disappointed, "That was fast. I thought you would, you know, make me work harder for it." _

_Nate bit his lip. He knew that wasn't even a sexual advance on him but everything Serena said sparked ideas that were hard to erase. _

"_Again," Chuck randomly rose out of the mass of pillows from the bed, "Blair and I need sleep. Blair has a mock exam tomorrow, for one."_

"_A mock exam?" Nate furrowed his eyebrows, clearly confused, "Really?"_

_Chuck rolled his eyes as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Get a room, please." _

_Nate blinked. He really couldn't comprehend as to why Chuck had always been interested in Blair's private affairs. Kind of like how he was with Serena. But with Serena it was different. _

Or was it?

"_You heard what the man said." Serena cocked her head, giving him a devious grin._

_They tiptoed out of Nate's room, and into the Archibald's third guest bedroom, which was located right down the hall from Nate's room. _

_When they got to the room, Nate did a goofy belly flop onto the bed, sending Serena into hysterics. He turned over to look at her, grinning. "You still have your bag with you. It's almost like you're teasing me." _

"_I like doing that if you haven't noticed." She grinned back. She sat on the bed next to him. Their eyes locked. _Fuck,_ Serena muttered under her breath. She quickly looked away. _

_Nate looked down and awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Trying to cover up the awkward moment between them, Nate quickly trying to grab her handbag. Serena was quick to respond to his attempt and held the bag firmly. All of a sudden, a mass amount of tampons flew up in the air from Serena's bag, onto the bed (with one landing on Nate's lap). _

"_Oh." Nate said awkwardly. _

_Serena bit her lip, clearly embarrassed. Nate looked up at her, and then they just burst out into a fit of giggles. They didn't stop laughing for what seemed to be ages. Finally they both sighed and rested their heads against the pillows. _

"_That was ... weird." Serena laughed. _

"_Definitely one of the more awkward moments in my life." _

"_You must have plenty." Serena said, half joking. Truth be told, Nate was quite a big dork. For one, she knew he hadn't stopped wearing tidy-whities until the seventh grade, or had his times table plastered on his wall until three months ago. Serena propped her head up facing him. He gave her a big goofy grin. _

"_I'm not _that _much of a dork." _

"_Cut the crap, Nate. You're a big pile of dork." Serena teased. She bit her lip involuntarily; no matter how much of a dork he was, there was no denying that Nate Archibald was one of the finest specimens of the male species. Only the table lamp was on, so Serena saw the outline of his features. His lips. She wondered how it would be like, just once, to kiss them. She'd kissed many boys before, but Blair's dad once told Serena and Blair that whenever he kissed the one he loves (obviously being Blair's mother), it made his lips tingle uncontrollably and his heart block his airway. She'd never felt a kiss that strongly before. Just looking at Nate's eyes made her heart heavy with longing ... if she had been a lesser woman and a terrible, terrible friend she would've kissed him by now. But she wasn't. She was Blair's best friend. And it hurt being so close to Nate; to hear him, to see him, to smell him, to touch him – but not the way that she wanted to. She would never get to hear him whisper sweet nothings in her ear; she would never get to see _him_, _all_ of him; she would never get to touch Nate the way she wanted to, caress him, stroke him, to taste him. She could never have Nate, and it killed her. It killed being so close to him, but not getting all of him. She had to look away. She rested her head on the pillow and stared at the ceiling. Nate turned off the lights._

"_I guess I kind of am dorky. Thank god for my James Dean looks." Nate laughed, half joking, and half serious. He had heard Blair mention James Dean once, and Nate's slight resemblance to him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Blair was obsessed with Aurora Hoffer, or whatever the actresses name was. Angela Hellburn? Nate was way too tired to think about it. _

"_Shut up." Serena attempted a punch at Nate, but completely missed and her hand made a _thud_ on his muscular chest. Nate took her hand and subconsciously intertwined his fingers with her. _

"_Night, Serena." He mumbled sleepily. _

"_Night, Nate." She whispered softly. She couldn't help but notice how even their hands fit perfectly together. _

"Fuck you! Fuck you right in the ass!" Blair Waldorf said as she hurled a shoe at her husband. Being married thirteen years to Blair Waldorf came with fast reflexes, as Chuck casually ducked out of the shoe's way, which landed – and exploded – on a stack of their daughter's crayons.

"Listen, I swear I had left the watch on the right hand-side of the nightstand. How it got inside the left-hand side's _drawer_, I really don't know. It must be Cassandra's fault." Cassandra had been their maid for seven years, after Dorota ran away with Arthur to god-knows-where, occasionally writing them postcards. Before Chuck continued talking in his defence he noticed a tall, leggy blond at the corner of his eye.

"Well, well. There's only one Serena van der Woodsen – and she certainly seems hump-free now." Chuck smiled. Serena rolled her eyes. It was good seeing her _brother_ again.

Blair could hardly contain her excitement, brushing past Chuck to give her a massive bear hug. "S, you look _amazing._" She remarked.

"Aw, thanks Blair. As do you." Serena gave a genuine smile.

"It's hard trying to tell her that, she never believes me." Chuck smiled as he walked up to give Serena a hug. This time, Chuck couldn't escape the wrath of Blair Waldorf and got elbowed in the gut. Serena laughed. Their banter/fighting/foreplay never got old.

"Sorry I just let myself in."

"Oh, no, that's fine. Have a seat." Blair studied Serena. "You look ... upset. Tell me, what's wrong?"

"Where were you last night?" Chuck cut Blair off, leaving Blair to give him the stink eye. He smiled and she tried not smiling back, though it was clearly tugging at her lips.

"I, uh." Where could she start? "I saw ... Nate." Answering both their questions at the same time.

"Nate?!" They both replied in unison.

Intrigued, Chuck sat himself down. "We've been trying to talk to him for two months at least. He says he's not up to it. How did you do it?"

"I met up with my divorce attorney at Murphy's and just when I was about to leave I saw Nate and he looked so ... sad. You guys failed to mention he got a divorce, by the way, thanks."

"We just didn't want to tell you because of you and Dan getting a divorce and ... I don't know." Blair shrugged.

"And Nate says the stars never aligned for you two." Chuck laughed.

Serena blinked, "Nate said that?"

Blair winced. Was she a bad friend for not telling Serena all this? She knew so many things that Nate had mentioned about Serena whenever they brought her up in their slightly drunken rooftop conversations.

"_Blair." Nate called her, slurring slightly. He motioned her to come closer._

_Blair giggled. Nate was fucking hilarious when he was drunk. Once upon a time, they had dated for a decade – before realizing that they clearly weren't made for each other. He was a laid-back, casual kind of guy who was pleased by just about anything and Blair was organized, fiery, bitchy ... her mind drunkenly wandered off. But now she had Chuck. And he had Rebecca. It felt good that they could be friends, after all that they had gone through, Blair really did still love Nate – in a different way, of course. _

"_Waddya want, Nate?" Blair arched her eyebrow, though her eyelids were feeling awfully heavy. _

_Nate covered his hands over his face, pretending to be scared, and then not remembering why he had his hands on his face, plopping them on his lap. _

"_Have you talked to _her_ lately?" Nate asked, trying to gather his drunken thoughts and make a serious conversation with Blair about Serena. _

"_Her?" _

"_Her."_

"_She's not fucking Voldemort, Nate. You can say her name." Blair laughed, silently admiring herself for such a witty joke at this state of mind. _

"_Is Serena ... still with Huggalbee?" _

"_Humphrey." Blair giggled. He was such a twat, drunk or not. _

"_Right-e-o." Nate slapped his face as a joke, turning out to be quite a painful one at that. "Ouch." He slurred. _

_It was pretty immature of five 28 year olds getting drunk on a rooftop every weekend just for the hell of it, but they loved it nonetheless. _

"_Why do you care?"_

"_I've never stopped caring."_


End file.
